Hello i am thinking of having a patio area put in my back garden ( to replace a garden studio) but i want to have a centre piece with a tree or plant in the middle of the patio. I dont want something that will grow above knee height Do you think this is a good idea ? Any suggestions of a suitable plant would be helpful Also i was thinking that the floor of the studio is still there. What is the advantage of replacing this with a patio area ?
Hi and welcome. It would be better if you could add a photograph of the area in question, and your geographical locatuion as some suggestions might not be suitable for your climate.
Hi there and welcome to the Stew ! Like was said above,,,knowing where you are and what is there now would be a big help ! My imagination is not that good !
I have attached a picture to this message, I 'm actually wondering why I would need a patio there as the flooring that is there seems solid enough .Ripping it all up and putting a patio seems like a bit of a waste of money. I could maybe just dig a hole there and insert some sort of plant . I'm in south London
Why dig a hole? I think the flooring would make a fine patio, and if you want something in the center, get a pretty pot and put a decorative grass or small shrub in it. Any water leakage can be contained by a plant dish under the pot.
Can't see as much as I'd like, but I would do a bit more. I'd think "long term" if you are intending to stay in the property for a while. If not it would still be a selling feature. Can you get any more of those flags? I'd take them all up and put down some hardcore and some concrete to get both the surfaces level. Then replace the flags across both areas.. If new ones aren't quite the same colour you can "mix and match" them. You can get a big big plastic tub for your plant. Or a few smaller ones, like ours.
I see no reason to remove what is there already ! You can remove a few tiles if you are planting in the ground but a pretty pot would work just as well ! And you could rearrange easily !
To be honest i am rethinking the whole idea. It would be cheaper as you say just to get a few plant pots and put on the flooring and get the already flagstone paved area fixed and put seating there. Maybe get some more of those cobbled stones for around the border. Might not be very exciting though ..
Looking at the whole area i think only 3 or 4 of the paving slabs need to be replaced. Is this an easy job to do or should i get in one of the landscape paving specialists but im a bit worried as they are the ones suggesting removing the whole flooring and putting in a patio. My concern is that they may want to do unnecessary work which adds no value. I also dont have the same identical paving stones
In the circumstances I'd avoid a "landscape paving specialist," most are no more able than a "jobbing builder" but at higher prices. It depends on what you want, a "quick fix" or something that's part of a long term plan. Gardening is just one of my several hobbies. Our garden has changed many times, over forty years. The "value" of any garden is what you get out of it. I laid this crazy terazzo patio in 1976. Ten years later, I ripped it up and replaced it with crazy York stone and added an 18 inch deep goldfish pond and more paths. A year later I changed it for a 3000 gall koi pool. I had that filled in and paved over in 2019 by a builder (photo in previous post) all the rest I did myself. The point I'm trying to make, is that's it's worth having a long term plan for a garden which you can progress as time and expense allows.
Thanks your garden looks very nice, ive just had the landscape paving guy phoning to see if i would accept the quote and he is saying that i should get a patio because the floor thats there is wood, hollow and very likely to rot. Im so confused. I can see the logic but its been raining and snowing and it looks fine . Plus if it rots cant i just put the plants into the soil underneath the floor ??? I'm still inclined to just leave it as it is and put potted plants on it
In the end it's down to what you want and if what you do fits in to any long term plan you have. I like to think I've a "low maintenance" garden, sadly there's no such thing. What you need to do is to avoid doing the same thing twice. For now, as you said, just stick some pots with plants on the proposed area.
